New Hope Christian Fellowship

Whether we like to admit it or not, when we read the Bible, we always "interpret" what we read. According to The New World Dictionary, the verb “interpret” means: “to explain the meaning of: make understandable.” When we read the Bible, we read it through various filters, which consist of pre-conceived ideas, misconceptions, and even our prejudices. It's not just us. It's all of Christianity. Throughout history, Christians have made erroneous conclusions from what they thought the scriptures had said. For example, people have preached that Bible supported their ideas of racial discrimination, sexual dominance, and slavery. Even today there are many major doctrinal errors, especially in fringe or cultic Christian groups, based on false interpretation or misunderstanding of Scripture.

Now the truth of the matter is this: none of us read the Bible with a truly open mind all the time. Our preconceived ideas too often prejudice the way we "understand" or interpret Scripture. And that is why we should learn some of the basic fundamental principles of how to study the Bible properly. When we apply these principles, they will help keep in check our pre-conceived ideas, so that we will be able to better understand what the Bible really says about specific issues and not what we think it says.

The apostle Paul admonishes Timothy and ultimately all of us in 2 Tim. 2:15 (NKJ), "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth". (NIV) "Correctly handles the word of truth." (NRSV) "Rightly explaining the word of truth." The Greek can also be translated "correctly analyzing the word of truth."

When we spend many hours studying a particular subject in the Bible, we don’t want to come up with an incomplete or wrong understanding of Scripture, but rather we want to “correctly analyze” and comprehend God’s revelation to us. And so the ultimate goal in this series is to encourage everyone to become better Bible students. But in the process, you are going to be challenged by showing that some of your old ways of Bible study need improvement. And that's perfectly OK, as long as you don't reject what I say until you seriously consider the information given.

Now at this point, we need to make one point clear. You don't have to be a "rocket scientist" to understand God's plan of salvation and to participate in it. In fact one of the scholars who worked on the translation of both the NKJ and NIV said, "One does not need to be highly educated to understand that Jesus Christ came to save sinners." And in fact, our church has always taught that eternal salvation depends upon our response to the Father's calling and our faith and belief in Jesus Christ, NOT upon our mental and intellectual prowess.

While numerous sections of the Bible are written in a clear and easy to understand style, there are other passages, which are more difficult to comprehend and thus take a little more study and analysis. The apostle Peter speaks forcefully on this point.

2 Peter 3:15 (NKJ), "...as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things (salvation), in which are some things hard to understand, which those who are untaught and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the scriptures." (NIV) uses the word “distort” instead of twist; (Amplified) “misconstrue.”

Then Peter tells us why it’s so important to properly understand all Scripture. Verses 17-18 (NKJ): "You therefore, beloved, since you know these things before-hand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and forever! Amen."

The theologian and minister, R. C. Sproul, writes in his book, Knowing Scripture: "No Christian can avoid theology. Every Christian is a theologian. Perhaps not a theologian in the technical or professional sense, but a theologian, nevertheless. The issue for Christians is not whether we are going to be theologians, but whether we are going to be good theologians or bad ones. A good theologian is one who is instructed by God."

One last introductory comment. We, as Christians, don’t need to study the Bible just for the sake of bragging that we’ve studied the Bible. We need to study the Bible because of the crucial role of God’s written Word in our Christian walk towards maturity. Many scholars feel that Scripture is one of the Holy Spirit’s primary tools for the transformation of our character and the development of God’s righteousness in us.

For this reason, the first step in Bible study is prayer. Prayer that the same Spirit who inspired the writers of Scripture may inspire and illuminate our minds. Prayer that each of us will have a humble and teachable mind. Prayer that we will be able to put aside our prejudices and preconceived ideas and drink deeply and accurately God’s transforming words of life.

A. We must understand the culture and language of the Bible. God gave us the Bible. He inspired it, but it’s written using human language and words. To ignore the culture and literary context in which the Bible is written to miss much of its meaning.

B. We must understand the historical background, the geographical conditions and the cultural practices and beliefs (whether true or not) during the time in which each book was written. In the NT letters, we need to understand what circumstances prompted the letter. Each was written in response to a problem and/or a situation that arose in the church or church area.

C. Determine what the text meant to its author and its original audience first, before making any contemporary application.

D. We must avoid reading our own understanding into the text (eisogesis, eis=into). We must discern the meaning that is there, no more, no less (exegesis, ex=from, out of). Eisogesis is subjective. Exegesis is objective.

E. Biblical literature uses both literal and figurative/symbolic language. We must know the difference because figurative/symbolic language cannot be taken literally.

F. A Scripture verse or part of a verse should never be interpreted in isolation from its context. We should always ask, "In what context is this verse true?" A text without a context is a pretext (a false understanding) --often cited as an erroneous proof-text.

Advanced Biblical Interpretation Principles

The first goal of sound biblical interpretation is to arrive at the objective meaning of scripture and to avoid the pitfalls of distortion caused by subjectivism. We all gravitate toward the practice of "reading our own understanding" into the Bible.

R. C. Sproul, in his book "Knowing Scripture", writes: "Exegesis means to explain what the scripture says. The word comes from the Greek word meaning to "guide out of." The key is found in the prefix 'ex' which means 'from' or 'out of.' To exegete scripture is to get out of the words the meaning that is there, no more, no less.

"On the other hand, eisogesis has the same root word but a different prefix. The prefix 'eis', also coming from the Greek, means 'into.' Thus, eisogesis involves reading into the text something that isn't there at all. Exegesis is an objective enterprise. Eisogesis involves an exercise in subjectivism."

And when we practice eisogesis (reading our own interpretation into the text), we see what we only want to see; we see/understand only what we're prepared to see. I’m certain you’ve heard the old expression, “You can prove anything from the Bible.” This statement is only true when you read your preconceived ideas into the Bible. Only then can you make it “prove” your point. As one wise observer of people with pre-conceived ideas once said, "Some see the truth, and some see only part of the truth, while others never see the truth." So we need to take positive steps so that we are those who see as much of the truth that God has inspired to be written in the Bible as possible.

According to recent research conducted by a group of British neurologists at the University of Oxford in 2005, preconceived ideas actually overrode the area of the brain that identifies various odors. The proof lay in the study's simple testing methods. Some of the subjects were asked to sniff a sample that was incorrectly labeled. Other subjects were given no information about the sample.

Apparently, the printed words had a profound effect (the near complete blocking) of the mind's perception of the scent. The conclusion: Cognitive (preconceived) input (like wrong labeling) had a huge impact on how those tested actually perceived things. They misidentified the scent by claiming the scent was the one that was falsely identified on the card.

Thus, when we're so convinced of a particular persuasion or mindset, we will read right over certain verses and never understand the meaning that was intended because it doesn't fit the model we operating under. In fact, in some cases, we won't even remember reading those verses. Please read these scriptures with an open mind, without any preconceived ideas. Then ask this question, what are these verses telling me? Is there any new information in these verses that I may have overlooked?

Matt. 24:36-39 (direct quote from Jesus Christ),“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the day of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away.”

The apostle Pau1 wrote in 1 Cor. 9:20-23, “To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (thought I am not free from God’s law am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the Gospel, that I might share in its blessings.”

The apostle Paul wrote in 1 Tim. 1:8-11, “We know that the law is good, if one uses it properly. We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for the lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers and mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers – and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.”

R. C. Sproul concludes his section on objectivity with this comment. "All of us have to struggle with the problem of subjectivism. The Bible often says things we do not want to hear. Subjectivism not only produces error and distortion, but it breeds arrogance as well. To believe what I believe simply because I believe it, or to argue that my opinion is true simply because it is my opinion is the epitome of arrogance. If my views cannot stand the test of objective analysis and verification, humility demands that I abandon them."

In a sense, studying and applying the Bible is like entering a time machine. We must first cross the barriers of time, language, culture, history, and geography in order to understand the original intent of the author's message given to those people. We need to know the prevailing cultural thoughts and practices of the people. For example, we need to understand the 500-year history of religious antagonism between the Jews and the Samaritans, before we can fully grasp the full impact of the lessons taught when Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well or makes the Samaritan the hero of a robbery story.

It's helpful in understanding the Book of Corinthians to know what kind of place Corinth was like. Was it a sleepy little town or a busy, hustling, sophisticated port city? Were the citizens of a conservative nature or did they live in wild abandonment? Its also helpful in our study of scriptures to know some of the background of the heresy that Paul was addressing in Colosse or the nature of the attack against Paul and his Gospel message at the churches in Galatia .

In short, we need to know who wrote the book/letter, to whom it was written, and what were the circumstances that prompted the writing in the 1^st place. This information will greatly increase our understanding of the meaning of the individual verses we are studying. Study Bibles and commentaries are very helpful in this manner.

A common mistake in biblical interpretation and application is to give a proverbial saying the weight or force of a moral absolute. Proverbs are only catchy couplets designed to express practical truisms. They only reflect principles of wisdom for Godly living. They do not reflect moral laws that are to be applied absolutely to every conceivable life situation. In other words, Proverbs is a book of advice and not moral absolute law.

Proverbs 26:4-5 illustrates clearly how proverbs can be contradictory if taken, as absolutes, with no exceptions. Verse 4 says, "Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Lest you also be like him." Yet, verse 5 says, "Answer a fool as his folly deserves, lest he be wise in his own eyes." Thus, there are times when it's foolish to answer a fool according to his folly, and yet there are times when it is wise to answer a fool. It depends on the circumstances. It's not absolute.

Even the wisdom sayings of Christ cannot be taken as absolutes in every situation. Jesus said, "He who is not with me is against me." (Mat. 12:30) But Jesus also said, "He who is not against you is for you." (Lk. 9:50) How can both be true? Again, it does depend on the circumstances, just as silence can mean consent and at other times it indicates opposition and hostility.

Another Proverb that has vexed us in the past is found in chapter 22:6 (NKJ), " Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Unfortunately, we have, in the past, felt this was an ironclad promise about child rearing. But it isn't. In reality, sometimes bad kids come from good families and good kids come from wretched backgrounds. Somewhere down the line, everyone must be held accountable for his/her actions.

Perhaps the strongest argument against this understanding is God’s own experience with his “children” Adam and Eve. Although God was a perfect Father to them, they rebelled against him and brought sin into the world. Who is to blame for this calamity? NT Scripture place the responsibility totally on Adam and Eve, not God – Romans 5:12-20.

[Next week we’ll examine three additional Biblical interpretation principles: literary genre, figurative language, and words with multiple meanings and analyze how they impact our Biblical understanding.]

Sharpen Your Bible Study Skills

Part 1 of a 5 Part Series

Introduction:

Advanced Biblical Interpretation Principles